New Mexico Trapper Rules & Information Licenses All trappers, both resident and nonresident, MUST purchase their trapper license from a Department office or from the Department’s Web site at: www.wildlife.state.nm.us or via Form 3. Trappers who do not report their trapping results by the deadline of April 7, may not purchase a trapper license for the 2010-2011 season. Residents ages 12 to 17 who hunt or trap protected furbearers must purchase a Junior Trapper License. Residents age 18 or older who hunt or trap protected furbearers must buy a Trapper License. Residents need no license to take unprotected furbearers. See Unprotected Furbearers below. Trappers must permanently mark their traps and snares with the trapper’s name and address or have a Trapper ID number, which is provided free by the Department. There is no closed season or bag limit on unprotected furbearers or unprotected species. Nonresidents who trap protected or unprotected furbearers in New Mexico must have a nonresident Trapper license. Trappers must permanently mark their traps and snares with the trapper’s name and address or have a Trapper ID number, which is provided free by the Department. Nonresidents who hold a nonresident nongame license or any current New Mexico nonresident hunting license may use firearms or bows to hunt for or kill coyote, rabbit, prairie dog or skunk, but may not set traps or snares unless they also have a nonresident Trapper license. Nonresidents should call any Department office for licenses. License Fees Resident - $20.00 Nonresident - $345.00 Nonresident Trapper licenses are NOT available to those who live in a state that does not permit a New Mexico resident to purchase a nonresident trapper's license. For more information, call any Department office. Junior Trapper Resident Nonresident (Residents age 12-17) $9.00 Not Issued Habitat Stamps are required for hunting, fishing, and trapping on U.S. Forest Service and BLM lands and must be purchased separately. A Habitat Management and Access Validation must be purchased separately. Bag Limit Protected Furbearers Unprotected Furbearers Trap Inspection Trap Identification The following restrictions apply in the setting of any trap or snare that could reasonably be expected to catch a protected furbearer. Each trap or snare used to take furbearers must be permanently marked with either the user’s name and address or have a Trapper ID number that is issued only by the Department. To get a free Trapper ID number, call the Department at (505) 476-8038. The identification number or name and address must be stamped on the bottom of the frame or included on a metal tag riveted, welded, or otherwise securely attached to the trap frame, chain or cable. Land Sets A land-set trap is a trap or snare set on land. No foot hold trap with an outside jaw spread larger than 6 1/2 inches (or 7 inches if laminated) and no tooth-jawed trap may be used in making a land set. A “laminated trap” means any alteration, modification or manufactured change to the jaws of a foot hold trap that increases the jaw width and therefore decreases jaw pressure. All foot hold traps with an inside jaw spread equal to or greater than 5 1/2 inches must be offset. An “offset” means any alteration, modification or manufactured change to a foot hold trap resulting in a gap of no less than 3/16 inches between the jaws when the trap is sprung. No land set may be placed within one-quarter (1/4) mile of an occupied dwelling without prior, written permission of the dwelling’s occupant, except for a land set placed by a landowner on his own land. No land set may be placed within one-quarter (1/4) mile of an established public campground, roadside rest area, picnic area or boat launching area. No land set may be placed within 25 yards of any U.S. Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management system trail designated by the agency on a map provided for the general public, or within 25 yards of the shoulder of any public road annually maintained with public funds. When a boundary fence is present, sets must be made on the side of the fence opposite the road. No land set may be placed within 50 yards of any man-made livestock or wildlife catchment, pond or tank containing water, except on private land with written permission of the landowner. If setting Conibear-type traps on land, the following restrictions apply. No Conibear-type trap with an inside jaw spread greater than 7” may be set on land. A Conibear-type trap with a jaw spread of 6” but less than 7” must be used in conjunction with a cubby set such that the trap trigger is recessed in the cubby at least 8” from the entrance. Conibear- type traps with an inside jaw spread less than 6” are not required to be used in conjunction with a cubby set. Foot hold traps may be used in conjunction with a cubby set as defined above under Land Sets. Water Sets A water-set trap is a trap or snare set fully or partially under water. No steel trap with an inside jaw spread larger than 7 1/2” or Conibear-type trap with a jaw spread greater than 12” may be used in making a water set. Visible Bait, Trap Flags It is illegal to place, set or maintain any snare or steel trap within 25 feet of bait that is visible from any angle and that consists of the flesh, hide, fur, viscera or feathers of any animal. However, a cubby set is legal when the bait can only be seen from a height of three feet or less above ground level at a distance of 25 feet from the trap. The bait must be placed within the natural or man-made cubby but the trap may be outside. Bones that are entirely free of flesh, hide, fur, viscera or feathers may be used as visible bait. The restriction on visible bait does not apply to a trap flag that is suspended above the ground and is made from materials other than parts of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles or amphibians. Importation & Possession of Live Furbearers It is illegal to import or possess protected furbearers or other wild-by- nature animals in New Mexico. Possession It is illegal to import any furbearer, or to retain alive in captivity, any protected furbearer. The Director of the Department may issue a permit for retention of raccoons or other activity permitted by rule. A person must receive a permit prior to possessing a raccoon. No Bear or Cougar Trapping There are no open trapping seasons on bear or cougar, except as permitted for cougars. Livestock owners or others suffering depredation from bear or cougar should call the nearest Area Office of the Department of Game and Fish for assistance. See page 3 for phone numbers. Tagging of Bobcat Pelts Anyone who takes a bobcat in New Mexico must present the pelt to a licensed fur dealer or any Department of Game and Fish office for pelt tagging. District Conservation Officers do NOT have bobcat tags. The trapper or his agent must arrange for all bobcat pelts to be tagged no later than April 14 annually and report the county in which the bobcat was harvested. Anyone (except residents younger than 12 years of age) presenting a bobcat pelt for tagging must present a valid Trapper license. It is illegal to present for tagging the pelt of any bobcat taken outside New Mexico. No one shall transport across state lines, sell, barter or otherwise dispose of any bobcat pelt taken in New Mexico unless it has been properly tagged. It is unlawful for a fur dealer to tag any bobcats contrary to the Furbearer Rules. Accidental Trapping of Mexican Wolves, River Otters, Lynx and Other Species Mexican Wolves are federally protected species. River otters are a state protected species. Both may occur in parts of New Mexico. If you should capture a river otter, you must release it immediately. If you capture a Mexican wolf, please contact the Department of Game and Fish 24-hour dispatch phone at (800) 432-GAME (4263) or call your local conservation officer or call the Mexican Wolf Interagency Field Office at (888) 459-9653 immediately. An officer will respond to remove the wolf and secure it until a member of the Mexican Wolf Interagency Field Team can arrive to process and radio collar the wolf. Trappers should consider double staking traps and/or using heavier drags in order to minimize injury to accidentally captured Mexican wolves. If you happen to trap a legally protected mammal (other than Mexican wolf) or bird or trap a protected furbearer during closed season, you must release it. Trappers must carry a device for release of non- target animals. If, however, it is badly injured, or its release would be dangerous to accomplish, you must advise the Department of Game and Fish as soon as possible. The Department will release the animal and, if necessary, treat its injuries. Trappers will not be held criminally liable if they accidentally capture a wolf, river otter or lynx in New Mexico. Any river otter inadvertently taken in a trap, must be reported to the Department of Game and Fish and released if alive or turned over to the Department if dead. Mandatory Harvest Reporting By Feb. 15, anyone who is licensed to hunt deer or elk, or by April 7, anyone who is licensed to hunt or trap furbearers in New Mexico, must report the results of their hunt or trapping season. This is true whether or not they hunted, trapped or harvested animals. Deer, elk, and furbearer hunters and trappers that do not report, will have ALL applications for draw hunts, population management authorizations or private land authorizations rejected the following year. What You Must Know Before You Hunt or Trap Closed Areas: All of Los Alamos County is closed to all trapping except the northern quarter and a strip along the west bank of the Rio Grande, (north of Water Canyon, from the Rio Grande to a line 1,000 feet below the canyon rim); the Valles Caldera National Preserve (formerly the Baca Ranch); the Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River; Orilla Verde and Santa Cruz Lake recreation areas; the Valle Vidal/ Greenwood area; Chihuahuan Desert Rangeland Research Center; state parks; national parks and monuments; national wildlife refuges and state wildlife management areas. Ft. Bliss/McGregor Range only allows furbearer hunting and is closed to trapping (see Military Reservations page 13). The Gila, Cibola, Lincoln and Apache Sitgreaves National Forests are all closed to beaver trapping. Seasons Badger, Weasel, Fox, Ringtail and Bobcat Nov. 1, 2010 - March 15, 2011 Beaver, Muskrat and Nutria April 1 - April 30, 2010 and Nov. 1, 2010 - March 31, 2011 Raccoon April 1 - May 15, 2010 and Sept. 1, 2010 - March 31, 2011 There is no open season on pine marten, river otter, black-footed ferret, or coatimundi. Know the Difference Between a Bobcat and a Lynx Bobcat
Lynx
 Source: New Mexico Big Game and Trapper Rules & Information, 2010-2011, pdf version available here. |
